One of Golda Meir’s most famous quotations concerned the differing attitudes between Arabs and Israelis when it came to children’s role in war. She noted that Israeli’s saw children as potential victims who must be protected at all costs, while Arabs see children as useful weapons in war. Now, a 30-second recording between an IDF soldier and a Gaza resident brings her observation to life.
Golda Meir, in her book A Land of Our Own: An Oral Autobiography, spoke about the different ways in which the two parties viewed children during the imperialist Arabs’ endless efforts to push the indigenous Jews out of their land.* Most people remember only the last sentence – “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us” – but it’s actually the preceding sentence that illuminates the vast moral chasm between Israelis and Arabs:
